A substantial amount of the arc welding is now done industrially by the use of robotic and automatic welding equipment wherein a supply of welding wire is pulled from a drum by a wire feeder and pushed through a welding cable and then through a welding gun movable along a workpiece. The robot performs a continuous welding operation. The welding gun includes a tubular contact tip allowing a welding current to be conducted to the wire moving through a wire receiving passage in the contact tip so the current between the wire and workpiece melts the wire for deposition of the metal onto the workpiece. This robotic or automatic type welding equipment operates continuously over many hours repeating the same welding operation. It is essential that the moving welding wire be provided to the welding operation while advancing at the desired rate coordinated with the controlled rate of movement between the electrode or wire and the workpiece. In many robotic installations, the distance between the wire feeder and the welding gun is substantial, up to 10-15 feet. In automatic installations the length can be up to 20-30 feet. In addition, the cable through which the wire is pushed is often bent into contorted curves to facilitate the proper positioning of the wire at the welding operation even though the position of the wire feeder is fixed on the robotic or automatic welding equipment. Any disruption of the supply of welding wire due to increased resistance to movement of the wire through the cable, or otherwise, is extremely costly in an automatic manufacturing facility. Consequently, it is necessary to have an uninterrupted supply of welding wire that is pushed through the cable, irrespective of many bends in the cable and friction in the contact tip. The welding operation must be performed consistently over hours of operation. This objective is difficult to obtain since the continuous welding wire may contain various surface coatings or substances, such as lubricant. To provide continuous feeding, some manufacturers apply a lubricant to the wire. Other steps are taken in an attempt to reduce the tendency to interrupt in the welding operation by feeding problems experienced by the continuously moving welding wire. However, in the past there has been no determination of the feedability of the wire until it was actually used at the robotic station. Consequently, the welding facilities rely upon the reputation of the wire from a given supplier. A subjective evaluation based upon experience is made regarding a particular wire. This subjective evaluation is then employed for the purchase of additional wire. This subjective analysis is the norm in the field; however, wire may change from one drum or coil to the next and the wire can change from one run to the next in the plant producing the welding wire. Thus, there has been no manner of determining the feedability quality of the welding wire, except for actual use of the wire over a period of time. This practice is not an accurate evaluation of the quality of the welding wire. It has been found that high quality wire is rejected based upon past experience regarding its feedability through the robot equipment. Unacceptable feedability problems are not corrected by adding lubricant. To the contrary the problem is solved by the manufacturing process. Thus, there is a need for an objective evaluation of continuous welding wire, corded or solid, to determine how it will function over long periods of time in a continuous welding operation such as a robotic welding station. Such evaluation could also be used to modify manufacturing techniques used in producing the welding wire.